Darkside

When a midshipman plunges six stories to his death, the U.S. Naval Academy begins investigating an apparent suicide. But there's a bizarre twist: the young man's body is found wearing undergarments belonging to Midshipman Julie Markham, a senior at the academy.

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Publisher's Summary

When a midshipman plunges six stories to his death, the U.S. Naval Academy begins investigating an apparent suicide. But there's a bizarre twist: the young man's body is found wearing undergarments belonging to Midshipman Julie Markham, a senior at the academy.

Julie's father, Ev, an Annapolis graduate who is now a professor there, fears his daughter will be blamed by the "Darkside" - the bureaucracy that wants to protect the academy at all costs from scandal. Then there's another death, and the beautiful grounds and impregnable traditions of Annapolis are revealed as the hiding place for a relentless predator who can no longer control an impulse to kill.

What the Critics Say

"Deutermann's latest - a tense mystery set in and around the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis - is sleek, sharp and scary." (Publishers Weekly)"Hill is at his best when voicing the sinister musings of the monster no one suspects." (AudioFile)

Darkside is an exciting trip into what one can only hope is mostly fictional version of the Naval Academy. The reader is taken to a fictional (again one hopes) worst case scenario of all of the rules, regs and traditions of the academy applied to effect deceit, cover-up and CYA. I found it very entertaining and engaging. It was hard to turn off!!

I found Darkside to be quite enjoyable, although I would not say it was great. It DOES paint a detailed picture of life at the Navel Academy and the philosophy that drives it. While the author admits to having taken some liberties with the underground features of the institution, he has done a fine job of describing and illustrating his intriguing story. The real surprise does not appear until the very end of the book. For some it will be a good ending, while others may find that it was a bit dark. However, like all murder mysteries, that darkness is inherent in the subject matter, so be prepared. It caught me completely off guard and changed the tenor of the entire tale. The narrator, Dick Hill, did a grand job. I will be looking for his name in other books. There is little here to NOT like, and a great deal to enjoy, so I would recommend this book to others without hesitating.

This book was a thriller to it's core. The character development and the relationships that are formed made you want to see the good guys win and get the girl. I am almost finished all of PT Deutermann's books, and I have LOVED them all.

Another great novel. Well read and well written though a bit strange in some places. Mystery and intrigue - but not the ending you expected. Listened to most of this riding my bike on the Katy trail and thoroughly enjoyed the pace and characters.

I enjoyed the narative and the story. The characters were well explained, and of course Dick Hill does a masterful job with the telling. This is my first read of a Deutermann novel but I will definately be listening to more of his work

The entire narration was Excellent as always. Dick Hill is one of my favorites.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The ending, I was dumbstruck.

Any additional comments?

I hesitated on this book for a long time because of some of the negative comments that were left. I guess it everybody's own taste but I thought this was absolutely fantastic and will probably listen to this one again.

I very much enjoyed Deuterman's "Cat Dancers" and "Hunting Season" and therefore sought out more of his works. "Darkside" was far inferior in prose, story line, and character development to these other books.

What was most disappointing about P. T. Deutermann’s story?

Seemingly unending descriptions of the tunnels, doors, keys, and other "details" beneath the halls of the Academy. When the story would again (and again) go subterranean I would say "OK, enough already!." It felt like page-count fill. In an attempt not to divulge the ending (how many times did it end?), his closing treatment of the Shark was juvenile at best.

Which character – as performed by Dick Hill – was your favorite?

Dick Hill is a superb performer, and I have enjoyed him doing so with many books. In this one, his "Shark" was beautiful.

Investigators fooled by Goths? Please. And could there be anymore discussion of how hot every woman in the book was? Could have been great, but shallow character development and WAY, WAY too much time in those tunnels - zzzzzz. But I did enjoy the narration.

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